Its absence in the system causes a
disease called rickets, in which, from all lack of lime, the
bones of the child become soft and yielding. The bones of a
rickety child will bend rather than break. It is slow to walk
and inclines to become bow-legged.
It is entirely different in old age. As the years multiply the
system absorbs an abnormal and ever increasing amount of
calcareous matter. The bones become unduly hard and brittle and
are easily broken. Bony matter is liable to be deposited in and
about the joints, when they become stiff and painful. It also
lodges in the various soft tissues of the body, and ossification
of the valves of the heart and walls of the arteries sometimes
happens. It weakens the blood vessels so that they easily
rupture, which causes apoplexy, paralysis and death. Calcareous
concretions in the kidneys and bladder, also, come from the same
cause, and are called gravel. Such deposits are not only
annoying and painful to the patient, but in time may prove fatal
if not removed by surgery.
Middle-aged and elderly people should never drink anything but
soft water. If a natural supply of soft water cannot be obtained
distilled water should be substituted. If neither natural soft
water nor distilled water are available, and there is doubt as to
the purity of the water that is being used, it should be boiled
and then let stand to cool and settle.
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